As part of the U.S. Department of Education’s third annual back-to-school bus tour, on Friday, Sept. 14, John White, deputy assistant secretary for rural outreach, will visit Ucross Foundation Ranch in Clearmont, Wyo., where he will lead a panel discussion on improving teaching and learning in rural areas and elevating the teaching profession with 40 Nationally Board Certified Teachers at the Wyoming Education Summit.

Kareen Borders, a 2012 Teaching Ambassador Fellow with the Department, will join White. In another panel discussion, she will talk about the Department’s RESPECT campaign. RESPECT is a national conversation led by Teaching Ambassador Fellows – educators selected by the U.S. Secretary of Education to serve as the “voice of teachers,” helping to inform and support the Obama Administration's efforts to elevate and strengthen the teaching profession.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his senior leadership team are crisscrossing the country from Sept. 12-21 for a series of events highlighting the theme that Education Drives America. Besides the visit to Clearmont, some of the other stops include Sacramento, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Salt Lake City; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Denver; Topeka, Kan.; St. Louis; Evansville, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Charleston, W.Va.; Roanoke, Va.; Richmond, Va.; and Washington, D.C.

For live, up-to-the-minute updates from the road, follow the Education Drives America tour on Twitter using the hashtag #edtour12, or visit the Department’s bus tour blog. To receive media advisories, press releases, notifications about postings to the blog, and other special updates during the tour, subscribe to the Department’s Education Drives America e-mail updates by clicking here.